"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."
Edmund Burke. What happened on this Day in History?

Monday, October 14, 2013

This Day in History: Oct 14, 1913: Coal miners die in Wales

On this day in 1913, 439 workers die in a massive
coal-mine explosion in Wales. The incident was one of Britain's
worst-ever mining disasters.

The Sengenhydd colliery (coal
mine) was located about eight miles from Cardiff in Wales. The mine
consisted of two pits, side by side, which held nearly 1,000 miners in
total. When the 6 a.m. shift began on October 14, 935 workers descended
into the mine. At 8:12 a.m., a tremendous explosion ripped through one
of the pits. Dust and debris were sent hundreds of feet into the air and
bright red and orange flames went nearly as high.

It took a
full hour to get the fire under control so that emergency workers
wearing special protective gear could enter the mine. They encountered a
grisly scene, with scores of headless and dismembered bodies littering
the ground. Meanwhile, in other parts of the mine, hundreds of survivors
were waiting for help.
Over the course of the day, groups of
20 survivors at a time were brought to the surface as a huge crowd
gathered at ground level. Some reports indicate that as many as 40,000
people came to the Sengenhydd mine to watch the rescue effort. Nearly
500 miners were brought up safely, though there were several serious
injuries. With still more than 300 workers unaccounted for, the rescuers
dug all night and into the next day, finding approximately 100 more
bodies.

With no further signs of life evident, mine officials,
concerned about the stability of the mine, decided to seal the mine and
leave the rest of the bodies deep within the earth.